Pete Barrett, right, of Dobbs Ferry interviews former major-league first baseman Sean Casey during a visit to the MLB Network studios in New Jersey. / David Dronzek/Submitted photo

Written by

Sam Borden

Journal News columnist

I tried to tell Pete Barrett. I really did. This business is trouble, I said. It's a tough gig. Struggle to get a job, struggle to keep a job, work hard to get an opening and then it might not even be exactly what you thought. Yeah, sure, you can meet great athletes and watch exciting games, but all that looks pretty good on an HD TV, too. Go to law school, I said. Maybe one day you'll own a team.

Except Barrett didn't want to hear it. He's a senior at Hackley, lives in Dobbs Ferry, and in a contest run by Bentley University and the Mets, was picked from among 500 applicants to get to work as an intern for the Mets' website this summer. He's also got an internship lined up at MLB Network.

Nope, there was no warning off this one. Barrett explained that sports is in his blood, going back to when his grandfather came to the United States from Ireland in the 1950s and quickly embraced the Mets when they were formed in '62. That loyalty was passed down to Barrett's father and then to him. It wasn't a choice, either. "I got put in Mets clothing as a kid," he said.

Covering sports has always been a goal. At Hackley, Barrett started the school's sports network to get some video experience and also writes for the school paper. On the side, he runs a blog, New York Sports Cookie, where he's recorded interviews with a variety of people in the sports industry.

When I asked him which area of sports journalism he thought he might like to focus on, he said, "From the people I've interviewed, I'd probably rather have a writing job."

(Sigh)

You could be asking for a world of hurt, I told him. Don't you follow the news? Don't you read the papers? (OK, bad example.)

"It's definitely scary to try to get into a position when you hear all that," the kid said. "But people have been saying this for years, and it hasn't happened. Tons of people still like to get their information the same old way.

"I think there will be some kind of merger with Internet, TV and print media. It's all going to combine. I'm not sure how it's going to come about, but I think there will always be sports coverage. People don't like to work for their information. The average Joe prefers getting their information handed to them, and I want to be part of doing that."

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On his website, Barrett has interviewed bloggers, radio types and even the president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Jeff Idelson ("We talked about whether Mike Piazza would wear a Mets hat when he goes in," Barrett said). His most memorable experience so far, though, came when he was visiting the MLB Network studios in New Jersey and had an opportunity to interview Harold Reynolds, Sean Casey and Mike Cameron in person.

Standing on the mini-field that the network built inside the studio, Barrett said he had some considerable butterflies as he slogged through the interview. "The intro was a little awkward," he said. "It definitely got better as it went on."

These weren't softball questions, either. Barrett said he didn't hesitate to ask the trio about steroids and how they thought potential performance-enhancing drug use should affect a player's ability to be voted into the Hall of Fame. That's a touchy subject for most players on general principles, but the fact that Cameron was part of the interview — a player who was once suspended for failing a PED test himself — could have made it even more awkward.

"I didn't back down," Barrett said. "I'm proud of how I still asked questions I wanted to know the answers about. And they were very nice, very gracious with their time. I felt good afterward. I felt like I'd done a good job."

The cynic in me wanted to tell him he'd still be better off doing something else, still be better off doing ... well, anything else. But the excitement in his voice stopped me short.

It was clear he loved thinking about that interview. Clear he loved thinking about what might be coming next.

"You're sure this is where you want to go?" I said. "Even knowing how tough it is?"

He laughed. "I know I don't want to have a desk job," Barrett said, "and maybe I'm going to end up having one. But as an idealistic teenager, I want to be more involved."

At that point, I gave up. It was obvious: Law school doesn't stand a chance.